The Joe Schmidt Tribute Thread

totallegend

Just think it's worth a thread of its own to give a fitting tribute to Joe as he takes over the Ireland job.

His achievements speak for themselves but I think what endeared him most to the Leinster fans was the style and skill levels shown under his watch. He built on the foundations and hard edge laid down by Michael Cheika and turned Leinster into the best team in Europe.

Always came across as a genuinely nice bloke too.

Thanks Joe, let's hope you can repeat the magic with Ireland!

Three seasons at the helm:
99 competitive games (the maximum achievable) and only 17 defeats.

Two Heineken Cup wins; in the three seasons in which Schmidt was in charge, Leinster lost only three HC games, all to Clermont Auvergne.

Amlin Cup 2013; in three games, Leinster scored 126 points and 14 tries.

Three consecutive Rabo finals, never finished outside the top two in the regular season.

Stev_o

Good job Joe. In a few years time you'll either have brought Ireland consistent glory or you ll be the most hated coach on these isles. Hopefully he can continue his success with Ireland.

irishbucsfan

If he can get to the highest achievable number of competitive games with Ireland ill be very happy!

Podge_irl

When it's listed like that it's actually a simply ludicrously good record.

shuffol

Only losing to Clermont in the HEC in 3 seasons, thats unreal.

Aidric

An outstanding coach and a gentleman. A massive gain to have him as the Ireland coach.

For me one of the most impressive aspects about his time at Leinster was his squad rotation and development of young players.

tolosenc

Didn't lose a single European knockout game...

CatFromHue

He used the word "yo" impressively

Larbre34

Was delighted to get a photo and a quick word with Joe last night, lot of very appreciative fans outside the dinner and he stayed chatting as long as they wanted which is the mark of the man.

He's clearly driven yet humble, a perfectionist yet realistic, a man manager yet a very tough task master, ruthless but inspiring, above all a decent man who always avoids the credit. It could well be that there isnt a better all round head coach in the world, we've been spoiled to have him. Mr Rugby indeed.

Thanks for everything Joe, best wishes to him and his family.

durkadurka

tolosenc wrote: »

Didn't lose a single European knockout game...

13 out of 15 knockout games won all told.

jamiedav2011

Stev_o wrote: »

Good job Joe. In a few years time you'll either have brought Ireland consistent glory or you ll be the most hated coach on these isles. Hopefully he can continue his success with Ireland.

Think that mantle has been taken already.

MBolgia

One really cold and horrible wednesday evening last winter I was coaching the under tens at home when the head coach told me to look across at the pitch wher the under 14s were training. There was Joe Schmidt taking a session with the kids. He had a meeting in town that evening and had rang the club to let them know he had a free hour and to ask them (to ASK them!) if they wanted him to take a session with the kids. He ended up half-an-hour late for the branch meeting because he had just one or two other things he wanted to show the kids.
Unbelievably humble and helpful.

Thanks Joe.

rrpc

One of the things that stood out for me was how open and honest he was at briefings and interviews either pre or post-match. Always with a smile and a twinkle and always ready to answer any question as thoughtfully and honestly as possible (without giving everything away of course).

thebaz

simply , different class - the kind of coach I wish I had back in my younger days , but never had. Made the game of rugby so exciting to watch, utilising local young talent , regardless of weather, which can be tough going in ireland.

phog

Best coach in NH at the moment and should really have got a spot on the Lions coaching ticket. He inherited a good Leinster team and brought them on even more, made them the envy of Europe.

I hope he does similar for Ireland.

totallegend

phog wrote: »

Best coach in NH at the moment and should really have got a spot on the Lions coaching ticket. He inherited a good Leinster team and brought them on even more, made them the envy of Europe.

I hope he does similar for Ireland.

I'd be optimistic on that. Leinster were in a decent enough place when Cheika left but Schmidt really brought us on and he did it with more or less the same group of players as Cheika had.

Ireland have a good group of players, if Schmidt can raise their performance levels in a green jersey, we're in for exciting times I hope.

durkadurka

Here's a great example of his class when dealing with the press.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/other-sports/saracens-23-25-leinster-brendan-venter-1693462

Garseys

He's a class act all around. I'm optimistic that Ireland is going to do very well under Joe and we'll see at least another 6N championship by his contracts end.

Joe for Lions AB's 2017? :pac:

Quint2010

I just hope it all doesn't go horribly wrong with Ireland. So much more politics and old farts to deal with. The expectation and pressure on him will be huge from the get-go. Hope his legacy isn't ruined.

CatFromHue

Quint2010 wrote: »

I just hope it all doesn't go horribly wrong with Ireland. So much more politics and old farts to deal with. The expectation and pressure on him will be huge from the get-go. Hope his legacy isn't ruined.

First up Samoa, Oz, and then the Kiwis. It doesn't get much harder than that!

Teferi

CatFromHue wrote: »

First up Samoa, Oz, and then the Kiwis. It doesn't get much harder than that!

Happy to give him plenty of time to settle in. If you remember 2011 Kidney had Ireland playing some effective modern rugby and it didn't stick until their last game in the 6N. When Joe first came in to Leinster it took a while for his plan to stick too. Integrating the style into Ireland may take a few games.

Steve

No disrespect to JS when I say this but I've always been somewhat resentful of the Ireland coach - whoever it was - and indeed the IRFU in general for 'holding' players for internationals to the detriment of the provincial teams. Leinsters HC campaign suffered badly this season as a direct result of this.

That said, he's a legend and I wish him every success with the green jerseys, lets hope he can rekindle some international magic!

ConFurioso

There was a photo a while back of Joe giving a slide show presentation, and on it was a quote:

'If it ain't broke, you're not looking hard enough'.

Sums up his style really. He was never complacent and seems to always be asking 'how can we do this better?'.

I'm gutted he's leaving Leinster, but I'd imagine His influence and professionalism will stay with everyone he worked with in Leinster.

Best of luck Joe!

molloyjh

God I love that man. Not ashamed to say it either! When you look at that record and hear the various stories people have of him you just can't help but have serious admiration for the guy. I remember in Dublin airport last May we flew in just ahead of the team so we hung around to applaud them when they came out. When Joe came out we simply clapped and said thank you. He walked over, shook our hands and said "No, thank you. The support was fantastic and we really appreciate it". He was so sincere and genuinely made the support seem valued. I can't wait to see what he does with this Irish side, but regardless he's done so much for Leinster that I'll have nothing but respect and plenty of time for the guy.

Thanks Joe and good luck with the national gig.

vienne86

For me, it has been his squad rotation and the bringing on of younger players, but I just love his obvious sense of fairness - no favourites, no enemies and pick players on merit. We will really miss him in Leinster, but it is great that he is staying in Ireland for three more years instead of just one. Already looking forward to the autumn internationals.

artvandelay48

What I love, and it seems to be taken for granted, is that he has made the Leinster team one of the top 2 or 3 teams in europe with primarily irish players. I don't think that gets enough press. The other two teams in a "top 3" would be clermont and toulon, both with large budgets and a small pool of indigenous players.

irishbucsfan

artvandelay48 wrote: »

What I love, and it seems to be taken for granted, is that he has made the Leinster team one of the top 2 or 3 teams in europe with primarily irish players. I don't think that gets enough press. The other two teams in a "top 3" would be clermont and toulon, both with large budgets and a small pool of indigenous players.

When you consider Leinster's 1st choice starting XV next season will be Irish qualified it really is impressive. The only way it won't be is if Roux starts, who is a project player or the unlikely scenario that Kearney loses his place to sideshow.

Hopefully Anscombe and Penney will try and catch up!

errlloyd

Joe made me love rugby. Before him I liked it, I watched it and I enjoyed it, but the way he made leinster play, the way he made us pass, the way he made plans to pick teams apart and had the player execute them so well it made it look easy... It was just incredible. Every game you'd sit down, with full trust in Joe, and wonder pleasantly to yourself what witchcraft the team were going to pull off. He gave me confidence in my team, and he gave us Cardiff 2011, perhaps one of our finest matches and my fondest memories.

I hope in team he makes me feel about Ireland like I currently do about leinster, because while Ireland always come first, it'd leinster I'd prefer to watch.

[Jackass]

YOU'RE SCHMIDT AND YOU KNOW YOU ARE, YOU'RE SCHMIDT AND YOU KNOW YOU ARE!

Absolute hero and legend of Leinster and hopefully soon to be a hero of Irish rugby.

A true gentleman and a genius of the game. It's a shame he couldn't be our Alex Ferguson or Arsne Wegner.

Really an end of an era with the departure of Schmidt, Johnny and Isa - thankfully holding on to Leo and O'Driscoll for one more season.

I look forward to the new era of Leinster rugby now under Matt O'Connor and the emergence of lots of new Leinster talent and a new Heineken Cup winning set of hero's!

Joe and the rest of them gave me the most enjoyable sporting era of my life, I travelled all around Europe, got to see many cities and see my team full of some of the best players in the world (and in history in BOD's case) take on and defeat some of the best teams and players around the continent.

Not many people get to grow up a short stroll from their local team who goes on to dominate the sport. It has been an absolute pleasure and a privelage. Not all Joe, but he was a major part of it and it's a period I hope to experience again, continue to experience, but certainly a time I will never forget.

All the best Joe, thanks for giving so much to the little people who live the mundane lives and look forward to every weekend 9 months of the year to watch their hero's in action.

Glass Prison 1214

[Jackass] wrote: »

It's a shame he couldn't be our Arsne Wegner.

Well Joe wins trophies so that rules him out straight away

totallegend

Think we'll give the last word to George Hook, as he wrote on 3rd October 2010, just before Joe's first HC game against Racing.

The entire team has lost a defence coherence and organisation that had been there since Matt Williams and Alan Gaffney.

One suspects it is too late for Schmidt to get the team back on the rails. The Magners League is no barometer of Heineken Cup success but I suspect this is a coach that has lost the dressing-room. The last time I saw such a collective unwillingness to compete was Eddie O'Sullivan's Ireland at the last World Cup. It will require a stunning change in attitude for Leinster to qualify for the knock-out stages

http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/heineken-cup/listless-leinster-will-come-undone-in-heineken-group-26686373.html

durkadurka

Was this after we had done well against Munster in Lansdowne?

Buer

durkadurka wrote: »

Was this after we had done well against Munster in Lansdowne?

Published the day after but clearly written before as it makes no reference to the actual events of the game itself.

Quint2010

Quint2010 wrote: »

I just hope it all doesn't go horribly wrong with Ireland. So much more politics and old farts to deal with. The expectation and pressure on him will be huge from the get-go. Hope his legacy isn't ruined.

I'm skeptical of any sporting bodies in Ireland having interacted with two myself in a sporting and professional capacity.

That said - a lot of talk before Joe's appointment was that he wasn't willing to comply with certain traditions, one being the pre match IRFU briefing.

I only hope his deal with the IRFU was on whatever terms it takes to make our team perform to the best of their abilities, and not on the terms of some vested interests seeking to minimise losses or avoid gainful risks.

durkadurka

I recall Hook refusing to row back on his words even after the racing game.
He said the only way Joe could prove he was a good coach was by winning the HEC.

A pretty high standard, I think you'll agree.

Nonetheless ....

thomond2006

The entire team has lost a defence coherence and organisation that had been there since Matt Williams and Alan Gaffney.

One suspects it is too late for Schmidt to get the team back on the rails. The Magners League is no barometer of Heineken Cup success but I suspect this is a coach that has lost the dressing-room. The last time I saw such a collective unwillingness to compete was Eddie O'Sullivan's Ireland at the last World Cup. It will require a stunning change in attitude for Leinster to qualify for the knock-out stages

irishbucsfan

Ive been looking for that Hook article for ages! Thank You!

I actually kept the paper for a while.

Edit: is that the same article where he predicts only Munster would get out of their group when it was only munster who ended up NOT getting out of their group!